How To Make A Floor In Your Attic

Attic joists that are made from 2x8s may be acceptable for building your attic floor but because every room is variable there are no absolutes.

How to make a floor in your attic.

Attics are great for storage but flooring directly over the attic floor joists doesn t provide room for the recommended 12 to 16 of attic insulation needed to keep your house cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Since they are outside the living space of your home finding the right attic flooring solution requires special consideration. If you plan to finish the floor in the attic and turn the room into a living space however you should always use 3 4 inch plywood. It s possible to create a solid floor without investing a lot of money.

With good planning you can avoid making these mistakes that are not just costly but obstructive as well. However flooring your attic can make it a perfect place for storage. Attic space offers many options for building storage or living space especially if you already have a well built basic flooring in place. Attic spaces are tough to work in.

You can for instance use recycled materials. If your attic joists won t bear the weight necessary to finish out a living space but the engineer cleared them to support floor decking for light storage you can install inch plywood or. Joist dimensions are only part of the equation. Before you start creating a floor for your attic you must make sure that it can handle the additional load.

You also need to ensure that the joist spacing is adequate. Then you ll need to build a grid like structure that can hold up the plywood flooring. Attic joists for live loads. Adding a floor to an attic can increase storage space or create a new room.

Thinner plywood can flex when you walk on it even with 16.